Air humidifying mechanism for furnaces



July 2, 1935 E. A. FRANCIS AIR HUMIDIFYING MECHANISM FOR FURNACES mamas Filed Sept. 2, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 oll y 1935- E. A. FRANCIS AIR HUMIDIFYING MECHANISM FOR FBRNACES Filed Sept. 2, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZZZ eeqfmm I og og e a Patented July 2, 1935 V UNITED Am HUMIDIF-Y-ING MECHANISM FOR.

, j FURNACES,

Edgar A. Francis, Marshalltownf lowa, assignor to American Machine Marshalltown, Iowa" Applicatio n September Z, 1931, Serial at. 560,779

'2 Claims. (c am-+2 4) I The object of my invention is to providean air washing and humidifying mechanism ffOI'c furnaces which is simple, durable and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture. 1 7

Another object is to provide a means for washing and humidifying the air circulated 'by the mechanism disclosed in my co-pending applica tion, Serial No. 469,419, filed July221, 1930..

Still a further object is to provide an air circulation mechanism including a fan or thelike, a dampered air outlet shunted aroundthe fan; means for mechanically closing thenda'mpered outlet whenever the fan 'isin operation :and hu midifying means for the air when circulatedby ,thefan. It may be here mentioned thathot air-furnaces are now being equipped with forced air circulation devices, usually comprising motor driven fans or blowers adapted to receive. the cold air ifrom the dwelling rooms and discharge'it within the furnace jacket wherein it is heated and thereafter forced to the dwelling roomstAutomatic controlling devices are ordinarilyprovi'ded whereby the fan remains idle when the furnace is cold and commences to operate when the furnace is warmenough to warm'the dwelling rooms, whereuponthe air is circulatedor re-circzilated by the fan. 7 The fan is againautomatically renderedim operative when the furnace cools down ma -re- 30, determined temperature. V V i .1 r A Mercoid or Furnacestat control switchmay be used with about a 100 degree range, between 250 degrees and 350 degrees, for instance, in the jacket of thefurnace orany other-suitablecom,

trol switch of any desired range may beused. Such aswitch will cut in originally after the furnace is cold, at about 350 degrees for starting, the fan and will cut out at 250 degrees for stopping the fan when the furnace cools down. It will again cut'in at 350 degrees when the-furnace becomes hot and will then operate gbetween the range of 250 degrees andi 350 degrees during, continuous operation of the furnace. r

When the furnace is inoperatiyegalltheair passing from the cold air pipesof theheating system into the furnace jacket would pass through the fan casing if it were not for the dampered outlet illustrated onthe drawings and fully described in my co-pending application above re-' 50, ferred to. r; v

' A further object of the present invention is to provide a humidifying means whereby to spray a fine mist of water into the circulating air and in such a way that thismist is readily taken in 56 and circulated by the fan so jthatproperly humidie fied' air-.can be supplied to the dwelling rooms rather than dry air. r Another object is to providecontrol means for the water spraying mechanism which is humidity responsive and located in the dwelling #roomfor instance, so as to be actuated according to the humidity of the air supplied thereto from the fan, so that the spraying means can be rendered inoperative whenever the humidity of the air is suflicie'nt and rendered operative whenever the humidity of the'air is insuificient.

Alfurther obiect is' to provide an additional control means'ior the spraying mechanism whereby itzwill operate only when the fan is in opera ti-on and-notwhenthe fan is inoperativeand gravity circulation is in effect. 1

Still a further'object is to provide baflle means for the washed and humidified air for the purpose of extracting drops of water therefrom.-

With these and other objects in view, my inventioniconsists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplatedare Figure 2 is a plan view of the air circulating and humidifying mechanism with the upper part of the cold air casing removed. Figure '3- 'is an enlarged sectional view on the line' 3 f Figure 2; V

Figured is a sectional view on the line 4-4015 Figure 3 Figurefi is a the invention.i; Figure 6 isa plan view similar to Figure 3 showinga construction in which a pair of dampers are provided, one on each side of the blower casing, instead otthe arrangement shown in Figure 3 andshowing the water pipes and humidity nozzles arrangedin a different manner. ,;Figure7 is'ajsectional view-similar to Figure 3 showin thev humidifying means in connection diagrammatic electrical view of with a blower which does not have a dampered outlet.

Figure 8 is a plan view of the same.

Figure 9 is a front elevation thereof; and

Figure 10 is a front elevation on an enlarged scale of the strainer and water valve for the humidifying means.

On the accompanying drawings I have used the reference numeral I6 to indicate the air casing of the jacket of a furnace l2. A cold air pipe is indicated at M and hot air pipes are indi' cated at [6. g

A cold air housing I8 is provided for housing my air circulating and humidifying mechanism. It is topped by an upper cold air casing member 20, into which the cold air pipe l4 discharges. Any desired number of cold air pipes I 4 may be connected with the casing. 26. i

Within the housing l8 a partition 22 is provided. A scroll-like fan casing 24 is located within the housing [8 and encases a fan, the spokes of which are indicated at 26 and the blades thereof at 28. The side walls 38 and the back wall 32 of the fan casing 24 are spaced from the adjacent walls of the housing [8 to provide an air passageway for the cold air as indicated by arrows 34. Intake openings 36 are provided in the side walls 30 of the fan casing 24.

The construction described in the last paragraph permits the entry of air to the major portion of these intake openings 26. A flared discharge opening 38 is provided in connection with the fan casing 24 as best illustratedin Figure 2 of the drawings. Air taken, into the fan casing 24 from the left side of the partition 22 is discharged through the fiared opening 38.

The space tothe right of the partition 22 serves as a dampered outlet shunted around the fan and is referred to by the reference numeral 40. A damper'42 mounted on a damper shaft 44 is adapted for controlling the flow of air through the shunt outlet 40. mechanism 46 is actuated by the flow of oil from an oilpump 48 which is connected with the shaft 50 of the fan by a flexible coupling 52. By spring means the mechanism 48 is normally constrained to remain in position for opening the damper 42, a rack and gear sector connection 54 and 56being provided between the mechanism 46 and the damper shaft 44.

The spring means, although normally constraining the damper 42 to remain in open position as shown by dotted lines in Figure 3, is rendered ineffective by the flow of oil to the mechanism 46 whenever the fan, is in operation. As soon as the fan ceases operation, however, the spring means moves the damper to normal position. The exactmanner in which this mechanism operates is fully described in my. co-pending application abovereferred to.

The main object of my present invention is to combine a humidifying means with the air circulating mechanism just described. The humidifying mechanism consists of a water supply pipe 55, an electrically opened valve 51, branch pipes 59 and spraying heads 60. The control valve 51 is normally retained in closed position by spring means or the like and is electrically opened by a solenoid 62, for instance. The spraying heads 60 are located within the cold air housing l8 between the side walls thereof and the side walls 30 of the fan casing 24, as best shown in Figure 2. They are made to project a fine'mist-like sprayof water in fan formation as shown by the dotted lines 64. I have located them at the most An oil actuated advantageous point for humidifying the air being forced through the air system of the furnace.

As a means for preventing drops of water from being carried with the circulating air, I have provided a series of bafile blades 66, each of which is provided with slots or openings 68 to drain water collected by drops in the air impinging against the blades 66. The water is drained into a sewer outlet '10, the bottom 12 of the air circulating and humidifying system being sloped toward this drain outlet so that all excess of water is conveniently disposed of.

In Figure 6 I have shown a different type of dampered installation like the one shown in Figure 3 except a pair of dampers 42a are provided instead of a single one. These dampers are arranged on each side of the blower casing 24a and are adapted for controlling the flow through openings which open directly into the connection pipe 38a, which extends to the furnace. In this type of installation, the water feed pipe at 55a is illustrated as coming in from above and dropping down to the nozzles 60a.

In Figures 7, 8 and 9, a blower is illustrated which does not have any dampered outlets, but is merely a blower and humidifying means. The baflle blades 66a are of coarser construction and fewer of them are used. They are preferably slanted, as shown in Figure 9 and have drain openings 68?) adjacent their lower ends through which water may drain onto the bottom 72b. In Figure 7, I have illustrated the bottom 122) high enough for receiving a street L fitting 86 above the surface of the floor 82 whereby a pipe 84 may be connected with the fitting 80 and extended to a sewer outlet located at any distance from'the casing I 8b. Since the blower casing 2417 does not rest on the bottom member 12b, a channel bar or the like may be used for supporting the blower casing in this type of device.

In Figures 8 and 10, I have illustrated a solenoid actuated valve 51a with a solenoid casing 62a. This is more of the commercial type of valve which will be used instead of the one shown in Figure 3 and includes adjustment features for the flow of water to the spraying nozzles 60a. A strainer 86 is also provided to prevent any'foreign matter from flowing through the valve and clogging the fine nozzle openings of the nozzles 60a. The strainer 86 is shown diagrammatically in Figure 5.

. Practical operation Referring to Figure 5, the temperature responsive means for controlling the motor 14 of the fan 24 is indicated at 16. It is in series in the circuit of the motor so that the motor will operate between 350 degrees and 250 degrees, for instance as before mentioned. For controlling the flow of water from the supply pipe 55 into the branch pipes 59 and out of the spraying heads 60, a humidity responsive control device 78 is provided in a room, the humidity of the air in such room being the controlling factor for actuating the device 18 to closed and open circuit positions. Thus, when the humidity is low the solenoid 62 will be energized for opening the water supply line and when the humidity is high, the solenoid will be de-energized for again closing the water supply line.

The valve 51, however, is additionally controlled so as to insure that water is not being sprayed into the housing I 8 when the fan is not operating. This is accomplished by connecting the solenoid in series with the control device 16 as well as with the control device 18.

Thus it will be seen that even though the control device 18 is in closed circuit position, water will not be sprayed into the housing I8 except when the motor 14 is in operation as determined by the temperature actuating the control device 16. I consider this feature to be a very important one in eiiectively humidifying the air being circulated through the furnace, the humidity being introduced only during forced air circulating operation of the device.

In Figure 6, two dampers 42a are substituted for the damper 42 and arranged in a somewhat different position relative to the blower casing 24a.

The operation of this device however is identi-- cal with the one shown in Figure 3 and is controlled in a like manner.

In Figure 7, a blower which does not have any dampered outlet is illustrated. Such a blower is ordinarily controlled by a thermostat, the same as when a dampered outlet is used and the humidifying means operates in a similar manner, the diagram shown in Figure 5 applying to this device.

It is obvious that particles of dust and the like carried by the air entering the casing 20 will be removed bythe sprayed water and the air will thus be washed.

The type of valve shown in Figure may be used or others for the same purpose may be used and various changes in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my humidifying mechanism may be made without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In mechanism of the character disclosed, an inlet air housing, a fan casing completely housed therein and having opposed sides, each provided with an intake opening, a single blower type fan in said fan casing receiving air from both of said intake openings and means for spraying water into said housing between the walls thereof and each of said intake openings of said fan casing whereby such water humidifies the air entering said housing before it enters said casing and the air entering each intake opening of said fan casing .flows through said sprayed water.

2. In a mechanism of the character described,

a single unit comprising an air inlet housing, a.

fan casing completely housed therein and having a pair of opposite walls provided with air inlet openings, said walls being slightly spaced from the walls of said housing, a spraying device in the space between each specified fan casing wall and the walls of said housing for spraying Water into said space for thereby humidifying air therein before it enters the air inlet openings of said fan casing and a single fan within said fan casing receiving air from both of said air inlet openings.

EDGAR A. FRANCIS. 

